Materials:
- Images from a magazine
- scissors
- exacto knife
- cardboard
- batteries & battery pack
- motor
- binder clip
- copper tape
- paper
- duct tape
We began making our project by first finding an image in the magazine that we felt was interesting and we thought would be fun to make move using the motor. We decided on a photo of a man laying in bed and a woman that we made move to appear as a ghost like figure. We started by testing out both the motor and battery pack connection to explore the different movements we could get the figure to perform. We went through multiple battery connections since and a few different motors since they did not initially work when we connected them. This was frustrating since we could not easily get started and instead had to try a number of combinations until we finally got one to work. Originally, our idea was to use the smaller motor to get the girl to spin above the man, but we found that she was too heavy and had to switch to the larger one. We were a little discouraged at this point since things were not going as we imagined. We wanted the girl to move slowly, yet she ended up spinning very quickly and making a bit of noise. Also, she was moving in a different direction then we planned, however we decided to alter our design and make it work.
We then secured the motor, figure, and batteries to a background image from a magazine using duct tape. During this step we found that the materials were larger then we would have liked so we found a way to conceal them from the viewer and incorporated it into the design of the piece. For this reason, we decided to make the man three dimensional and pop out in the foreground. 
As we moved on, we wanted to incorporate a light into the design so we made a circuit on the back of the image. We tried making one larger circuit with the binder clip as the switch, however when we connected everything the only thing that worked was the light. We found this confusing since we expected the motor to draw more power from the source.
As a result, we had to deconstruct our circuit and then create one for the light source with its own battery and another for the motor. One thing we found particularly challenging and aggrivating throughout the entire process was working with such small wires and mechanics. It was hard to keep things attached and positioned because of their small size. In an attempt to solve this we taped a lot of extra things down with both the duct tape and copper tape. On the other hand, we were successful with getting the switch to our motor to work from the back of the image and to have it concealed from the viewer.
As we continued to construct, we decided that the piece was to bulky to leave flat and chose to use cardboard to prop it up and make a stand for it. We created a hole in the cardboard so that we could have access to the switch for the motor and then folded the cardboard to make a stand for the work to balance on.
Lastly, we attached our work to the stand we created and put a moon on top of the light. We started with a moon from the magazine, but then changed to a more transparent material to let more light show through. Finally, we tested out our finished project and everything worked properly. The only thing we had to adjust was that we added extra support to the spinning girl and the motor. Overall, we were very proud of the work we created. We encountered a number of difficulties and frustrations that could have led us to give up on our concept or settle for the minimum. However, we continued to work, experiment with new approaches and build on what we had to make something more complex then we first imagined. The difficulties we experienced forced us to think in new ways and take a different perspective on our project. If it wasn’t for the small failures and obstacles, we would not have achieved the result that we did and would not have learned as much throughout the process. I think that if I were a student in this situation, I would most likely experience many of the same problems and go through the same emotions of frustration and aggravation when things did not work out as I planned. As an educator, I think its is important to keep possible problems and obstacles in mind. Teachers should walk around and scaffold students as they are working by providing advice, suggestions, and words of encouragement. Moreover, they should encourage students working within the same space to interact with peers because other students may have ideas or solutions that could work as well.
